A heartbroken mother is petitioning to raise awareness of the dangers of letting your baby sleep in a carseat, after she lost her 11-week-old son to positional asphyxiation.
In the past 5 years there have been 107 infant deaths from babies sleeping in unsafe conditions in Oklahama alone- 5% of these were in carseats or rockers.
Ali and Derek Dodd lost their son Shepard, when a daycare worker put the baby boy in an unbuckled carseat in an empty room.
When the worker returned two hours later, she found Shepard blue and unresponsive.
Tragically medical staff were unable to resuscitate the little boy.
“I was able to kiss him on the forehead as they wheeled him in,” said Derek Dodd. “He was cold. So I knew it was coming.”
Shockingly the day care operator was warned by the Department of Human Services (DHS) about the dangers of allowing a small child to sleep in a car seat just 11 days prior to Shepard’s death.
Positional asphyxiation occurs when newborns or babies get into a sleeping position which causes their airways to close.
This happens because they do not have the neck strength to lift their heads high enough to breath.
Babyyourbaby.org recommends babies are placed on their backs alone in a cot with a firm mattress and no extra pillows, toys in the area.
They state that if a baby does fall asleep in a carseat and there is no cot available, parents should "ensure he/she is not on a counter or table (or any place high) and that he/she is buckled into the seat as they can slide down when not buckled and get in a position where their airway is blocked”.
Oklahoma DHS policy states infants should only be put to sleep on their back in a cot alone, adding that any other sleeping position is a violation.
And now the Dodds are doing all they can to ensure this policy is more wide spread, hoping their tragic story will be a stark warning to other parents.
Click here for more info on safe sleeping conditions for babies.
Picture credit: FB 'The Car Seat Lady' and news report 'Big Sky Group'